Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor vehicle, in particular a passenger car. The invention also relates to a method for operating an internal combustion engine, in particular in a motor vehicle.
In internal combustion engines with a horizontal or virtually horizontal cylinder arrangement there is generally the problem of feeding back the quantity of lubricating oil which accumulates in the cylinder head. For example, return pipes which lead into the oil sump from the cylinder head can be arranged underneath the cylinders in order to avoid the accumulation of relatively large quantities of oil in the cylinder heads. In this context, relatively long cornering situations, in particular under motorsport conditions, are problematic. The lateral accelerations which occur in such a situation hold the lubricating oil, which usually flows back as a result of gravitational forces, in the cylinder heads. Such states impede or prevent an adequate supply of lubricating oil to the rest of the internal combustion engine and they can lead to serious damage to the internal combustion engine within a short time.
Published, non-prosecuted German patent application DE 42 30 560 A1 discloses an internal combustion engine in which filler bodies for reducing the volume are arranged in an oil-conducting space of the cylinder head. These filler bodies prevent the accumulation of relatively large quantities of oil in the cylinder head. However, accommodating such filler bodies can be problematic since they must not impede movable elements of the internal combustion engine which may be arranged in the vicinity of the cylinder head, for example a valve drive.